Int’l Film Festival begins in Kashmir today

The International Film Festival of Kashmir 2014 will start from Monday (August 18) at SKICC here.  
The event being organized by Experimental Moving Images and Theatre Association (XMITA) is the fourth edition of International Film Festival of Kashmir (IFFK). It marks XMITA’s 10th anniversary with longest-ever lineup of movies across the globe.
During the four-day festival as many as 44 movies in 10 international languages will be screened. The films selected for screening have been produced in 17 countries including Syria, Russia, Armenia, Netherlands, Iran, Portugal, Germany, France, Kazakhstan, Korea, Canada, Serbia, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Jordan and India, a statement here said.
The festival which began in 2007 has grown in its size over the years.
Prof Fida Muhammad Hasnain, writer and historian will chair the jury of eminent experts. The jury will choose best films for the top awards from among the competing movies. 
Others in the jury are Bashir Budgami, filmmaker, Bashir Bhawani, theater artist, Zarief Ahmad Zarief, poet, Prof Rehman Rahi, poet, Ghulam Nabi Khayal, writer and journalist; Muhammad Shafi Pandit, former bureaucrat, Shabir Mujahid, filmmaker and Director General Doordarshan, Dr Shujaat Bukhari, journalist, Farooq Nazki, film critic and writer, Aziz Hajini, writer and Shamshad Kralwari, broadcaster.
Earlier, the films have been shortlisted by a selection committee comprising people from film industry, school of cinema studies and theatre.
The committee has shortlisted 44 films out of about 200 entries from more than 50 countries.
The films include World Premieres (7), South Asian Premieres (15), International Premieres (2), Asian Premier (1) and Indian Premier (1).